Seminary Marks 100th Birthday

The Hungarian Rabbinical Institute celebrated its 100th anniversary two weeks ago with a special ceremony here which was attended by representatives of Jewish communities in East Europe and several West European countries. The Institute is the only rabbinical training seminary in East Europe and serves the entire Communist bloc. There are presently 15 students at the Institute, including three from the Soviet Union.

In a special ceremony service, Dr. Sandor Scheiber, director of the Institute, described the seminary as “the bastion of European Jewry.” Imre Miklos, Minister of Religious Affairs, told the participants that the Institute “has and should continue to educate rabbis who see no contradiction between their religious duties and their patriotic sentiments.”

Among those in attendance were Moscow’s Chief Rabbi Jacob Fishman, Rumania’s Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen, and the presidents of the Jewish communities of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia. Dr. Nahum Goldmann, Gerhart Riegner and Armand Kaplan represented the World Jewish Congress. Gerard Weinstock, representing the American Jewish Committee, and Rabbi Arthur Schneider, of the Park East Synagogue in New York and president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, were also present.